The present invention relates to a dough lump shaper.
The invention relates more particularly to a dough lump shaper of the type comprising a dough lump rolling-out station, a station for conveying the rolled-out dough lumps along an outgoing path from the entrance of said conveying station, located facing the rolling-out station, as far as an intermediate point, through a station for rolling up the rolled-out dough lumps, and along a return path, by way of a station for shaping the rolled-up dough lumps by the elongation of the latter, from said intermediate point as far as the exit of the conveying station, which is located in proximity to said entrance and at which the shaped dough lumps are delivered at the exit of the shaper, and a movable-member transfer station arranged in the vicinity of the intermediate point and ensuring the active transfer of the rolled-up dough lumps from the outgoing path toward the return path.
Shapers of this type are known, in which a transfer station comprises two motorized transfer-belt conveyors extending in parallel and driven in rotation in the same direction of rotation.
The upper face of the first conveyor ensures the transfer of the dough lumps by way of the rolling-up station as far as the intermediate point, while its lower face cooperates with the upper face of the second conveyor which is driven in a movement in an opposite direction and at a lower speed, so as to ensure the shaping of the dough lumps and the travel of these as far as the exit of the shaper.
In order to maintain control over the dough lumps during their transfer from the first conveyor toward the second conveyor and, in particular, to prevent this transfer from taking place solely under the action of gravity, it was proposed to equip these shapers with a transfer station with a motorized movable member, said station being arranged downstream of the outgoing path and comprising an active surface facing toward the intermediate point and extending in the direction of a gap located between the first and second conveyors.
Such a shaper is described, for example, in the patent application FR 97 10 813.
The distance between this transfer station and the first conveyor and the distance between the two conveyors are set accurately as a function of the quantity of dough for each dough lump.
Before they are introduced into such a shaper or during this introduction, it is possible for two dough lumps to agglomerate so as to form only one. When such a double dough lump reaches the transfer station, its dimensions prevent it from passing through the space formed between the first conveyor and the transfer station and/or the space formed between the two conveyors.
The dough lump then becomes larger with the arrival of each new dough lump, thus making it necessary for the baker to take action in order to remove the dough.
Moreover, this type of malfunction causes soiling of the machine and gives rise to a loss of time due to cleaning.
The object of the invention is to overcome these disadvantages.
To achieve this, the subject of the invention is a shaper of the abovementioned type, characterized in that it comprises, furthermore, means for the ejection of dough lumps jammed in the vicinity of the intermediate point.
Thus, even when two dough lumps have agglomerated in the shaper, these are immediately ejected.
According to particular embodiments of the invention, the invention may comprise one or more of the following characteristics:
the means for the ejection of the jammed dough lumps comprise the transfer station;
the conveying station comprises a first motorized transfer-belt conveyor comprising first and second active faces opposite one another and movable in opposite directions, and a second motorized conveyor comprising an active face parallel to the second active face of the first conveyor and movable at a lower speed and in the opposite direction with respect to said second active face, said first active face of the first conveyor delimiting said outgoing path, and said second active face of the first conveyor and part of said active face of the second conveyor jointly ensuring the shaping and displacement of the rolled-up dough lumps along said return path, and the transfer station comprises a third motorized transfer-belt conveyor arranged downstream of the outgoing path and comprising an active surface facing toward the intermediate point and extending in the direction of a gap located between said first and second conveyors, a second part of said active face of the second conveyor and the third conveyor jointly ensuring the displacement of the jammed dough lumps along an ejection path;
the means for the ejection of jammed dough lumps comprise the active surface of the third conveyor and part of the active surface of the second conveyor, which are driven in the same direction;
the means for the ejection of the dough lumps comprise the second and third conveyors, and the active surface of the second conveyor forms a means for the transfer of the jammed dough lumps along the ejection path, while the third conveyor is stopped;
the shaper comprises means for detecting the jamming of a dough lump, said means controlling the means for the ejection of jammed dough lumps;
the movable-member transfer station is mounted on the frame so as to be displaceable in translational motion about a stable position of equilibrium for receiving the rolled-up dough lumps, a retracted position for the passage of dough lumps and an advanced position for pushing dough lumps, the means for detecting the jamming of a dough lump comprising means for detecting the position of equilibrium of the transfer station, which are connected to means for comparing the duration during which the transfer station is located outside the position of equilibrium with a threshold duration, in order to control the ejection means in the event that said threshold duration is exceeded; and
the threshold duration is between 0.5 seconds and 2 seconds, preferably between 0.8 seconds and 1.5 seconds.